


I've Always Been Here For You Too, Brother.

by hirusen



Series: Detroit: Deviant Tales [3]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Alive Carl Manfred, Carl Manfred & Markus Parent-Child Relationship, Developing Relationship, Drug Withdrawal, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Father-Son Relationship, Friendship/Love, Gen, Language, Leo Recovering From Red Ice, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Painting, Past Drug Addiction, Past Markus/North (Detroit: Become Human), Peaceful Android Revolution (Detroit: Become Human), Post-Android Revolution (Detroit: Become Human), Tags Are Hard, established relationship(s) - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-01
Updated: 2019-02-02
Packaged: 2019-10-20 11:13:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17621342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hirusen/pseuds/hirusen
Summary: A couple weeks after the revolution, Markus comes back home to introduce his father to his friends, and stumbles upon a familiar face.





	1. Hello Again

"Are you sure about this, Markus?" "I'm sure, North. Carl would absolutely love to meet all of you." The duo exchanged, both Simon and Josh pleased that the two remained close after the break-up. It wasn't because of a major issue or they had a huge fight; they both just realized about a week after the revolution that they had gotten together in the heat of the moment, feeling more attracted to each other than they actually were do to adrenaline and the, at the time, real fear of being killed without feeling loved one last time. Simon was secretly pleased with the break-up, but he didn't want to push things with Markus right now; besides, all of Jericho knew how he felt about Markus, he was just waiting to see what his response was.

They arrived at 8941 Lafayette Avenue, and as they approached the door, Markus felt a grin spread his lips. " _Alarm deactivated. Welcome home, Markus._ " "Wow..." Josh muttered under his breath as Markus lead them inside, waiting for the door to close before stepping further into his old home. He walked over to the bird cage and opened it up, activating the birds once again, a little grin on his mouth as he did so. It was just a little past 10 in the morning, so this was extremely familiar for Markus, taking a step towards the door the lead into the kitchen, but pausing as he remembered that Carl was being taken care of by a different android, and thus knew that there was no food waiting to be served in the kitchen.

"Old habits, huh?" Simon asked and Markus laughed under his breath. "I guess they do die hard." He turned to face the group. "Come on, Carl's upstairs." "Isn't he weak right now?" "He  _was_. I've been informed by the android taking care of him that he's recovered quiet well." That seemed to put Josh at ease. Guiding them upstairs and towards Carl's bedroom, they were greeted by two faces not one. "Leo?" Markus spoke, a little surprised to see Carl's biological son again. He saw the way the young man stiffened at his presents, but forced himself to relax when Carl set his hand on top of his leg.

"This is certainly a surprise. I didn't think I'd be getting so many guests in one day." Markus chuckled at his father figure's words. "Good thing you've been to so many cocktail parties then." "Okay, wisecrack, very funny." Carl replied, a good natured expression on his face. "...I'll see you later, dad." Leo stated as he stood up and made his way past the others.  _"Stay here and introduce yourselves. I need to talk to him."_ He interfaced with his friends, giving Carl a quick smile and nod before following Leo back downstairs.

"Leo!" Markus called and he didn't miss the way Leo's back and shoulders tensed up. "It's been...a long time. How have you been?" "Like you fucking care." "Leo..." There was still a huge amount of tension between them from that night. Markus did a quick scan of Leo before he reached out; he frowned when the human flinched at his approaching touch, clearly scared that Markus was going to hurt him again. He said nothing for a moment as he cupped Leo's cheek, taking a little bit closer look at his eyes. "...You look better." "Well, yeah. You had sent me into a fucking coma." "No, I mean you don't look like you've been taking Red Ice."

It was an open secret between Leo, Markus, and Carl that Leo was addicted to Red Ice, burning through the money Carl gave him to get his next fix. There was clear signs that signaled that someone was a Red Ice user: purple coloring under the eyes from lack of proper sleep, easy to irritate, physically violent, scratching at their arm frequently or frantically. While there was still some purple under Leo's eyes, he didn't appear to show any other signs that he had been using, most likely having not used it since he woke up from his coma. "...I saw your voicemail you left Carl before you got out of the hospital." Markus confessed after a long moment of silence between the duo.

Leo didn't say anything, just glanced down at his feet. "Leo, can you look at me please?" "Why?" "Because I want to know that you're actually listening to me right now." His tone was soft, his hand still on Leo's cheek, and he gave him a little smile when he did move his eyes to lock on his mis-matched ones. "I'm sorry, for what I did that night; it wasn't something I enjoyed doing, in truth I was so scared that I had killed you." Markus stepped closer, sliding his hand down to rest on Leo's neck. "But I also wanted to say that I'm proud of you." Leo looked at him confused. "It's not easy to admit that you have an addiction, let alone trying to break it; you're clearly doing much better, and from what I can tell, you and Carl have gotten closer during your recovery."

"Well, yeah, you weren't in the picture. He had to finally face me as his son; I--" Markus tenderly placed the tips of his fingers against Leo's lips, cutting him off. "Carl has always loved you, Leo, even if you had been living with your mother of most of your life. But he didn't like the person you were on Red Ice; that person he didn't want to show affection for. He wanted his love to go to the son he knew was hidden behind the man using his face while you were on it." Markus told him and he could see all kinds of emotions flaring across Leo's face. "When I had pushed you and injured you, Carl was just as concerned as I was; neither of us wanted you to die, and I had freaked out pretty badly during that whole ordeal."

"You...had?" Markus hummed. "I begged Carl to let me stay, so I could try to make things right, but..." "...Dad mentioned the police had shot you." Markus sighed. "There was a lot of confusion and they didn't really know what was going on; I don't really blame them for their actions, they had been sent because I had called in a possible break-in, and when they get there, you appeared to have been killed and given that Carl was right next to you, they jumped to the seemingly only logical conclusion at the time: I had killed you." Markus understood pretty quickly that humans were very easy to frighten given the right circumstances; he never blamed those cops for their actions, though North had insisted that he had taken some form of vengeance for what happened to him.

Markus got a little concerned when he saw tears glisten a little in Leo's eyes. "...I-I need to go." "Okay. But, if you ever want to talk, you can always give me a call." "But, I don't..." Leo trailed off as he heard his phone beep, checking it to see that Markus had added his contact code to his phone book. "Now you do." Markus gave Leo a gentle smile before watching him leave, a deep sigh leaving him. "That seemed to have gone as well as it could've." Markus snapped around to see Simon above him, leaning against the railing with a soft look on his face. "I suppose you saw most of that?" "Just that last part; Carl was getting a little antsy about you two and I told him that I'd make sure everything was okay."

Markus sighed, but it was an old, familiar sigh. "Oh Carl..." Markus slowly made his way up the stairs and Simon met him halfway, a hand settling onto his shoulder. "You think he's gonna be okay?" "...I hope so." Simon gently curled his fingers against Markus's chin and turned his head to face him. "Are  **you** gonna be okay?" There was a long moment of stillness before, "...I hope so."


	2. Friction

Markus was busying himself in the studio while Carl began his newest painting. The sound of construction nearby didn't seem to bother the old painter as he focused on putting the image in his mind onto the canvas with his strokes and color choices. "Morning, Markus, Carl." "Oh, hi Simon." Markus greeted as he finished cleaning the smaller brushes in the sink, having already dumped the color stained water out of the jars and refilled them. "Ah, good morning, Simon." Carl greeted, glancing down to the android as he entered, lowering himself so he wasn't having to crane his neck that much to see him. "...I like the base so far, Carl." Simon commented, having Markus's eye for spotting and enjoying good art.

The old man grinned again, taking a quick look at his work so far before turning his attention back to Simon and his android son. "Has Leo stopped by yet?" Simon asked and Markus shook his head. "I haven't heard from him either, but let's just give him a little time. I'm fairly certain he's still in a bit of shock after seeing me again." "I wouldn't doubt that." Carl spoke and while Markus did give him a little smirk, he didn't miss the look that was in his eyes. "Don't worry, Markus; I'm sure my son will come around sooner or later." "...I hope so, Carl. I don't like the tension that's between us." Markus moved closer to Carl, the painter reaching out to cup one of Markus's cheeks, thumb stroking his skin. "I don't like seeing such friction between my sons either, but there's only so much either of us can do."

Simon glanced to the right and spotted something that made his mouth drop in awe. It was a beautiful painting of an android hand and a human hand reaching for each other, the pure essence of hope captured by it. "Oh. I nearly forgot that was on the easel." "Is that yours?" Simon asked as Markus carefully took the canvas off, setting it to the side before putting a blank one back onto the easel. "Yes. It was my first time being able to feel and express emotion." "...It's beautiful." Markus smiled at Simon, seeing the little bit of blue tickle the tops of his ears. "Did you want to give it a try?" Markus asked, grabbing the palette from the table next to the easel and offering it to Simon.

"Painting? O-Oh, I don't think I'd be any good at it." "Have you ever tried it?" Carl, not Markus, spoke up and both deviants looked to him, now back fully in his wheelchair. "W-Well, no, but--" "Then how do you know if you're no good at it if you've never tried?" Simon glanced to his shoes then. "Everyone has a talent for something, but you have to take some risks to figure out what it is." Carl stated and Markus saw the way Simon seemed to relax at his words. Simon glanced to the palette that was still in Markus's hands and nodded his head, taking it and stepping up to the canvas. Markus handed him a brush and noticed that Simon seemed unsure of what to do.

"Close your eyes, Simon." He hushed softly and he quickly did so. "Think about something you've never seen before, and concentrate on how it makes you  _feel_ , and let your hand move from that alone." Markus instructed and both he and his father figure waited and watched as Simon focused, taking a good two minutes before he began to paint. It was interesting to watch Simon paint; his strokes were much more fluid than Carl's, but unlike Carl, Simon chose more simple color tones and contrasts. They worked well together, but it was clear that he wasn't exactly comfortable in his shoes while he painted. When Simon opened his eyes, they were all surprised by the image he had created.

It was a rose with Thirium petals, resting in a human hand that was surrounded by darkness, the thorns on the flower stem coated with specks of red and blue. "rA9... It's beautiful, Simon, but what were you feeling?" Markus asked, seeing as Simon's hands were now beginning to tremble. "I... I'm not sure; all I can remember is that I had focused on the conversation you had with Leo the other night." "You felt anxiety about their relationship." Carl commented, getting their attention. "You're hopeful that maybe Markus and Leo can mend their relationship and be there to support each other in their own way, but because of their history, you're scared that might not happen." Carl moved closer to them as he spoke. "That's what I see in your painting, Simon."

There was a long stretch of silence between them. "I should start making your lunch, Carl." "Oh come now, Markus! I have someone else to take care of me; you don't have to start up old habits." "And what if I like my old habits?" Markus teased with a smile, turning on his heel and heading for the kitchen. Carl kept his eyes on Simon as he watched the man leave, a longing in them that he remembers feeling once as well. "Have you told him?" "Everyone kind of...knows how I feel." "But have you  ** _told_** him?" Simon looked back to Carl, a brow raised in confusion. "No one is saying that Markus is oblivious to the world around him, not after what happened, but that doesn't mean he's fully aware of things either. Everyone may  _know_ about how you feel, but until you confess it, I doubt he'll ever  **respond**  to your feelings." "You think so?"

"Markus is a man who will do nothing to or with someone without first hearing their feelings or consent of it. He may have felt the same way you do about him for just as long as you, but he didn't act because you've never told him how you felt." Carl reached up and placed a hand on the small of Simon's back. "I know it's a scary thing to lay your heart out like that, but no matter what happens, you have to trust that Markus will never intentionally hurt you. He will either accept your confession, or lower you down gently, there's no two ways about it." Simon, after a couple of thoughts, felt a grin spread his lips. "Thank you, Carl."


End file.
